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November 29, 2016 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1 NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OFFICIAL REPORT Tuesday, 29th November, 2016 The House met at 2.30 p.m. [The Speaker (Hon. Muturi) in the Chair] PRAYERS COMMUNICATION FROM THE CHAIR DELEGATION OF WOMEN PARLIAMENTARIANS FROM TANZANIA Hon. Speaker: Hon. Members, I wish to introduce to you a delegation of Women Parliamentarians from the Parliament of the United Republic of Tanzania seated at the Speaker’s Gallery. The delegation comprises of the following Members of Parliament and a staff:- (i) Hon. Leah Jeremiah Komanya, MP; (ii) Hon. Esther Mmasi, MP; (iii) Hon. Lucy Mugereli, MP; (iv) Hon. Annatropia Theopist, MP; and, (v) Ms. Salome Anyoti, member of staff. Hon. Members, the delegation is in the country on an exchange programme with their KEWOPA counterparts. They have been here since Monday, 28th November, 2016, and will depart on Friday 2nd December, 2016. I welcome them to the National Assembly and wish them fruitful engagements in the course of their stay in the country. MESSAGE APPROVAL OF NOMINEES FOR APPOINTMENT AS MEMBERS OF NATIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE COUNCIL Hon. Speaker: Hon. Members, pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order No. 42(1) of the National Assembly Standing Orders, I wish to convey to the House a message from His Excellency the President, asking Parliament to approve the following persons for appointment as members of the National Climate Change Council: (i) Mr. Suresh Patel; (ii) Mr. John Kioli; (iii) Ms. Cynthia Wechabe; and, (iv) Dr. Jane Mutheu Mutune. In the Message, His Excellency the President conveys that, in exercise of powers vested in him under Section 7 of the Climate Change Act, 2016, he has nominated the said persons from Disclaimer: The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor. November 29, 2016 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2 the entities listed in sub-section (2), paragraphs (f), (g), (h) and (i) of the Act, respectively. Further, Section 7(4) of the same Act provides that the names of persons nominated for appointment under subsection (2), paragraphs (f), (g), (h) and (i) shall be submitted to Parliament for approval before appointment. A plain reading of Section 7(4) of the said Act implies that the approval process is to be considered by both Houses of Parliament. Hon. Members, as you may be aware, it is a matter of public notoriety that the approval of appointment of persons to public office generally falls within the province of the National Assembly. Nonetheless, there are exceptional instances where the Constitution or the applicable laws require a bi-cameral approval of public appointments. A precedent was established last year during the appointment of the Inspector-General of Police, whose vetting was undertaken by both Houses of Parliament. In this regard, the vetting process for appointment of members of the National Climate Change Council will proceed in a manner similar to that of the Inspector- General of Police. Hon. Members, for clarity, allow me to guide the House as follows:- (i) The vetting of the nominees for appointment as members of the National Climate Change Council shall be conducted by the Departmental Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, jointly sitting with the relevant Committee of the Senate; (ii) The quorum of the joint sittings will be the respective quorums of each of the Committees as stipulated in the respective Standing Orders; (iii)As contemplated under Rule 9(6) of the Joint Rules, unless a decision is reached by consensus, any vote to be taken in the joint sittings of the Committees shall be by the separate Houses’ Committee to ensure that the numerical difference of the individual Members representing the two Houses in the joint sittings has no effect on the decisions of the joint sittings of the Committees; (iv) The joint Committees shall, having conducted the vetting hearings, submit a Joint Report to the respective Houses in the manner contemplated by paragraph 7 of Joint Rule No. 9; and, (v) The approval process shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Public Appointments (Parliamentary Approval) Act of 2011. Hon. Members, Section 8 of the Public Appointments (Parliamentary Approval) Act, 2011 provides that the relevant Committee should table its report for consideration within 14 days from the date when the notification of nomination is conveyed to the House. The Act also requires that the public be given seven days’ notification for submission of views regarding the suitability, or otherwise, of nominees proposed for appointment to an office requiring approval of Parliament. In this regard, and in accordance with the provision of Article 259(5) (a) of the Constitution as read together with Section 5 of the said Act, the counting of the seven days’ notification to the public shall start running on the day following the day when the notice is published in the dailies. Further, Section 9 of the said law provides thus: “If after the expiry of the period for consideration specified in Section 8, Parliament has neither approved nor rejected a nomination of a candidate, the candidate shall be deemed to have been approved.” Hon. Members, it is, therefore, advisable that the concerned committees expeditiously proceed to jointly notify the nominees and the public. Thereafter, the two committees should commence the joint approval hearings and table a joint report in good time to enable the Houses of Parliament to consider the report. This message, together with the resumes of the nominees, Disclaimer: The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor. November 29, 2016 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3 stand committed to the Departmental Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, sitting jointly with their Senate counterparts, as earlier explained. Thank you. PETITION IRREGULAR ACQUISITION OF LAND IN NDALANI WARD Hon. Speaker: Member for Yatta, Hon. Kilonzo Mwangangi. Hon. Kilonzo: Hon. Speaker, I present a Public Petition regarding irregular acquisition of land in Ndalani Ward of Yatta Constituency, Machakos County. I, the undersigned, on behalf of area residents of Kivingoni Sub-location, Ndalani Ward, Yatta Constituency, Machakos County, draw the attention of the House to the following: THAT, the Ndalani Ward residents have lived on land plot numbers, 12, 81, 88, 89, 90, 95, 102, 121, 122, 125, 126, 154, 166,167, 210, 249, 272, 279, 282, 292 and 472 for over 30 years; THAT, those area residents do not at present hold any title deeds to the land in question; THAT, in the recent past, unknown persons from a different community have been raiding Kivingoni Sub-location in Ndalani Ward at night and forcefully taking over the aforementioned pieces of land; THAT, those people have not only been chasing away residents of the area from their land, but have also been destroying existing homes and properties in the process; THAT, this has caused tension between the two communities which might consequently lead to ethnic violence if not addressed with immediately effect; and, THAT, the matter in respect of which this Petition is made is not pending before any court of law. Therefore, your humble Petitioners pray that the National Assembly, through the Departmental Committee on Lands: (i) Visits the affected area with the relevant Ministry and the National Land Commission, inquires into that matter and ensures that the rightful owners of the land receive their titles. (ii) Recommends that area residents who have had their homes and properties destroyed be compensated and also provided with humanitarian aid. (iii)Recommends that actions be taken against all those found culpable or complicit in causing displacement of area residents from their homes, and, (iv) Makes such other further order and direction that it deems fit in the circumstances of the case. And your Petitioners will ever pray. Thank you, Hon. Speaker. Hon. Speaker: Member for Makueni, do you want to comment on the Petition? Hon. Maanzo: Yes. Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I would like to support this Petition by saying that Yatta Constituency borders Murang’a County. It is true that there has been an issue with land allocation. There is always presumption of ownership if somebody has settled on a piece of land for over 12 years. In this case, it is 30 years. There must be a way that person is associated with that land and, most importantly, ownership conferred to that person. Due to the fact that the area is inhabited by a mixture of different ethnic groups, it is good that the Disclaimer: The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor. November 29, 2016 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 4 Committee takes care of it. Land is a very emotive issue in this country. We do not want to end up with local land clashes of some sort. When people become impatient or when someone is evicted from a piece of land, there are problems. Those people have been staying on that piece of land with their families and have developed it for over 30 years. I support. Thank you, Hon. Speaker. Hon. Speaker: Member for Igembe Central. Hon. Kubai Iringo: Thank you, Hon. Speaker for giving me this opportunity. I stand to support the Petition. Land issues are very emotive. There are a lot of problems with land issues. There are people who are bent on taking land from communities. The Departmental Committee on Lands should look into this matter critically because that is what brings chaos and even clashes among our people. Even in my constituency, we have huge chunks of land whose title deeds have not been issued because some people claim that the land is theirs.